96 Hours
by GoddessofSnark
Summary: When the INS comes knocking on her door Corday has 96 hours to marry someone to stay in the US, who'll she pick?
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Don't own ER, if I did, I'd rename the Romano memorial myself.  
  
A/N: For those of you who know who Norman Keyes is, here's another chance for you to hate him! And I'm going by what I know of US immigration laws (not much) and the timeframe of seasons 7-8. This takes place around early season ten, circa Dear Abby.  
  
***  
  
The short little man walked through the swinging double doors and up to the admit desk. "I need to see a Doctor Elizabeth Corday immediately please." The rotund desk clerk looked at the whiteboard chart behind him.  
  
"She's in a surgery now." The man shrugged.  
  
"Call her out of it." The desk clerk looked at the man before him, amazed that someone could have the audacity to do that.  
  
"What do you mean?" The desk clerk asked, shocked.  
  
"Call her out of it, or I'm going to fine this place."  
  
"How can you fine it?"  
  
"For hiring an illegal alien." He pulled out something from his pocket. "Norman Keyes, INS. As of now, Ms. Corday is an illegal alien. Call her down." The desk clerk shrugged and called the extension for the surgical suite.  
  
"Yeah?" a nurse answered.  
  
"Hey, can you send Doctor Corday down?" the nurse turned to Corday.  
  
"Hey, doc, Jerry wants you downstairs." The nurse switched the phone over to speaker.  
  
"I'm kind of in the middle of a surgery."  
  
"Tell her some dude from the INS is ready to deport her." Jerry's voice echoed throughout the suite and Corday set the tool she was using on the surgical tool tray before backing away from the patient on the table slowly, shaking ever so slightly. She scrubbed out and got on the elevator, all the while talking to herself, trying to reassure herself that everything was going to be fine, she didn't have a problem, she was a legal US citizen, wasn't she?  
  
"It's alright, you married a US citizen, you're going to be fine, they just forgot something, you can fix things." She got off the elevator and walked towards the admit desk where she found the short, fat, balding man waiting for her, rolling an unlit cigar between his fingers.  
  
"Ah, Doctor Corday is it?"  
  
"Yes, yes it is." He extended her hand.  
  
"Norman Keyes, INS. I'm starved, lets do this someplace where I can get a bite to eat. There's a diner nearby."  
  
"Ike's?" Jerry questioned.  
  
"Yeah, probably what it is. C'mon." Right from the start Elizabeth hated this other man. There was something evil about him, something that just reeked of nastiness. He walked out of the hospital with her close in tow, and as soon as they walked out of the building and into the ambulance bay, he removed a lighter and lit the cigar that he had in his hand, taking a deep breath of it. She caught a whiff of the foul smelling smoke that only a cheep cigar produced and had to force down a large gulp.  
  
He lead the way to Ike's in silence for a while until he finally spoke. "I suppose you already have something of an idea as to why I'm here Doctor Corday."  
  
"Actually, I don't." she replied, truly not knowing why a man from the INS would have to see her.  
  
"In case you didn't know, you're an illegal immigrant." Her eyebrows shot up and she stopped in her tracks.  
  
"I think you may have the wrong person, last time I checked I was legal."  
  
"Well, you don't have any working papers filed." They started to walk again, and they found themselves in a booth in the backmost corner of the smoking section, and he leaned over the table to glare at her. "The way the INS sees it, you are illegal end of story."  
  
"I didn't think I would need working papers as I married an US citizen." She pointed out. The short man took another puff of his cigar as he ordered a hamburger. The waiter looked at Elizabeth and all she ordered was a cup of tea.  
  
"Ah yes, Doctor Greene, wasn't it?" she nodded. "Well, you happened to neglect something. US law says you have to be married for two years before you're a citizen. According to our records, you were only married for a year and a half."  
  
"He died!" she countered.  
  
"And wasn't it true that you married him with the knowledge that he had an untreatable life-threatening disease?" she was silent. "The way we see it you're a scam artist." He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope. "These are your deportation papers Doctor Corday. You have ninety- six hours before you have to leave this country. Thursday at six at night, if you're not married to a legal US citizen then you're going back to England."  
  
"But what about my daughter?" she questioned, knowing full well that her daughter was a US citizen.  
  
"If you wish for her to remain in the US you are going to have to give up custody of her." Elizabeth's face fell. "I'll leave you be til Thursday, if you try to run, we will catch you." he finished his hamburger and got up, leaving a twenty on the table. "Good day." He said, leaving Elizabeth to sit there, shocked, stunned and feeling very alone all of a sudden. 


	2. 2

Robert Romano walked to the admit desk and looked at the board. "Hey Jerry, where's Lizzie, I got a patient who needs a surgical consult."  
  
"She left." Jerry replied.  
  
"Left, what do you mean left?" he said, with a trace of shock and a trace of anger in his voice.  
  
"She left, probably for good."  
  
"For good?" Now a trace of panic invaded his voice.  
  
"Yeah, some guy from the INS stopped by and wanted to talk to her. Said she was an illegal alien. She hasn't come back yet." He nodded, and started to walk away. "Where are you going?" Jerry called after him, as he made it to the ambulance bay doors.  
  
"To see what's happened." He walked out and got in his car, heading towards her house, wondering what had happened. If they had found out that she was illegal, what had taken them so long to come and deport her? she was the best surgeon that the hospital had, since he lost his arm, and since Benton left. The hospital couldn't afford to loose her, they'd be left with no one to perform a halfway decent surgery, and a whole bunch of hacked up people with a stack of malpractice suits a mile high.  
  
He pulled up in front of her house, and parked his car along the curb. He paused for a minute before getting out, and he spent another just staring at the front door before taking a deep breath and walking up the walk. He hid the doorbell and found her answering the door. "What do you want?" she asked as she saw who it was. There was a faint redness in her eyes, and she looked fairly disheveled. She had changed from what she was wearing earlier that day into a pair of sweats and a tee shirt, obvious comfort clothes.  
  
"Hello to you too. I wanted to see how you were doing." He was being truthful when he said it. he did want to make sure that she was alright.  
  
"Great, so now everybody knows." She stepped back from the door, allowing him to step inside before she closed the door behind him.  
  
"What happened?" Elizabeth walked into the kitchen and handed him the envelope she had been given. He read it over and his face fell. "They're giving you four days to either marry someone or leave?" she nodded grimly. "Well that should be easy for you." she glared at him.  
  
"Where am I supposed to find a man to marry in such a short period of time?" he neglected the one thing that he wanted to say, and instead came up with a glib comment.  
  
"Find some gigilo and marry him for name only. It worked on TV." She glared at him again with a look that he envied, an evil glare that he wished he could copy.  
  
"I will not do that. I've I'm going to marry someone I at least want to know them."  
  
"Well now, that leaves every single unattached man in the hospital. Take your pick. Carter's in the congo, don't think you'd want him though, Luka's not a US citizen, but that still leaves Pratt, Anspaugh's widowed, you can have him, or what about the med students?" she smiled slightly, something she hadn't done all day, and retreated into the living room with him following.  
  
"You want something to drink?"  
  
"I can get it myself, you sit down, what do you want?" she thought for a moment. She wanted a cup of tea, but she wasn't sure if he'd be up to making it, if it wasn't for a cup of tea, he would have been able to wait longer before getting his arm amputated.  
  
"A cup of tea would be nice." He hesitated for a moment before smiling. The same thoughts were running through his mind that had been running through hers, but he didn't care, it was alright, she was about to be kicked out of the county, he could handle a stove. He found the kettle with little trouble and filled it, making sure to keep far away from the stove after turning it on.  
  
"What about that Dorsett fellow. There's quite a few rumors going around about the two of you." There was a light air to his voice, despite how much the rumors had hurt him. Just when he thought he had a chance with her someone else waltzed into her life.  
  
"I just found out he's otherwise attached, to a wife." The kettle gave it's tell-tale whistle and he brought out two cups with the tea bags steeping in each one.  
  
"that's never a good thing." She smiled again. "What about that one Morris." A look of disgust crossed her face. "Oh wait, he's probably not going to last more than two years with his life threatening disease-his stupidity." She laughed.  
  
"Tell me, why are you here?" she asked, her voice becoming more somber again.  
  
"I came to make sure you were alright. I heard what happened."  
  
"I didn't realize you had a heart." He smiled. She still had her sarcastic side to her, which was always a good sign.  
  
"I just didn't want the hospital to loose the only surgeon that has any clue what to do." she smiled.  
  
"Yes, well as things stand now, I think you're going to." She leaned back against the couch and they lapsed into a comforting silence. 


	3. 3

Their reverie was broken a little while later by a thump and the sound of crying. "Oh no, Ella." Elizabeth groaned. She was about to get up when Romano stopped her.  
  
"I can handle it." she smiled at him as he disappeared up the flight of stairs towards the room where Ella was. He found the four year old on the ground rocking back and forth clutching her knee screams echoing from her mouth. "Hey there sweetie, what happened?" the way she kept carrying on, he doubt if she even heard him. he picked up the child awkwardly with the use of one arm and a prothestic, but he managed to set the girl down on the dresser to look at what happened.  
  
She seemed to have calmed down a bit now that there was someone to take care of her. he looked at her knee which had just a bit of rugburn and looked for a minute for bandaids, which he found quite quickly in the dresser draw. He was about to put one on when the four year old stopped him. "Mommy always kisses booboos to make them better." He smiled and lowerd his head to kiss the small scrape before putting the bandaid on top of it.  
  
He lowered the blonde haired little girl down the floor, a fait smile on his face. She looked so much more like her father than her mother, but she was still a cute little girl. "Where's mommy? She asked him, already heading out of her room.  
  
"She's downstairs." The little girl headed full speed down the stairs, with Romano following close behind, making sure she didn't fall down again. The little girl saw her mother and ran into her arms.  
  
"Hey there honey." The young girl curled up on her mothers lap.  
  
"Movie." The girl said, pointing at the TV in front of them.  
  
"Which one?"  
  
"Sleepy." Romano chuckeled and looked at Elizabeth.  
  
"Would that be Sleeping Beauty or Snow White?"  
  
"Sleeping Beauty." She said, getting up to turn on the TV when he again stopped her. It was the least he could do. she had helped him through so much when he had his arm amputated, the least he could do was let her relax after the news of her possible deportation had reached her. he put on the movie and went back to the couch. "You don't have to do this you know." She pointed out to him as the familiar Disney castle popped up on the screen.  
  
"It's the least I can do." he said, collapsing against the back of the couch.  
  
"What's your name?" Ella quipped, finally realizing that she had only seen the other man in passing glimpses before.  
  
"Robert." He said, looking down at the little girl.  
  
"Wobet." She said in the slaughtering of the English language that most young children had. He chuckled at it, and even Elizabeth smiled. The settled back to watch the movie, and before long the toll of the past few hours had taken it's toll on Elizabeth and she fell asleep, her head against the back of the sofa, leaving Romano and Ella to sit and watch the movie, Ella indefintly more into the movie than he was.  
  
He never liked Disney movies, he found them to be incredibly sappy and depressing, but he endured it for the child's sake, and for Elizabeth's. He knew who she could marry, someone who wasn't attached to a wife, was a US citizen currently in the United States, and who wasn't about to die from his own stupidity. And here he was, sitting next to her, babysitting her daughter while she slept away the fear that he knew must have settled deep inside of her.  
  
He felt just as afraid. He didn't want to loose her. Not only because of the trouble it would cause the hospital, but also because of the trouble it would cause him. he missed her a lot when she was back in England after Mark's death, he couldn't stand it if he knew that she was going there without a chance of coming back. He could come up with something. He was smart, he had graduated suma cum lade from college, he could find a way around the INS, couldn't he? He could find someone for her to marry at least, at the moment he didn't care who it was, even if it wasn't him.  
  
The movie finished, and he found Ella to be mimicking her mother and was sound asleep. He hoisted the toddler up and carried her gently up the stairs to her room where he laid her down and put a blanket over her before retreating back down the stairs to do the same thing to Elizabeth, watching as she slept peacefully and quietly before he walked out, shutting the door behind him and driving back to the ER, set on trying to come up with something, anything to keep her in the country. 


	4. 4

He found himself sprawled out on the couch in his office, running his one good hand down his face, as he tried to think of something, anything, before it hit him. Luka Kovac, he had had to go through all the joys of the Immigration and Naturalization service, he had to know what it would take to stay in the country. He reached for the phone from his position, and dialed the front desk. "Hey, Jerry, send Kovac in here will you?" the other man signaled his compliance with a grunt, before hanging up the phone.  
  
A short while later the other doctor walked in, looking rather angry. "What do you want Romano?" he asked in his heavily accented voice.  
  
"Ah, Luka, just the man I wanted to see." A smirk appeared on Romano's face as he stood up to talk to the other man.  
  
"Just get this over with Romano, what do you want." Romano chuckled, purposely annoying the other man.  
  
"I just have a question for you, what does it ta ke to prevent you from being deported?" Luka looked at the other doctor.  
  
"If you dare try to deport me."  
  
"Naw, you haven't ticked me off that much yet Igor, but what does it take?"  
  
"Oh, lots of things can get you deported, crime, not having a work visa, not having a valid passport, take your pick." Romano thought about it.  
  
"And if you lacked any of those documents, anything you could do to stay in the country?" Luka looked at the man strangely.  
  
"Pray the INS doesn't catch you, or marry a US citizen."  
  
"You can't get another work visa?"  
  
"It usually takes at least a week for them to finalize." Romano shrugged.  
  
"You can go now." Romano said, dismissing the other man with a flick of his hand. The other doctor stood there for a second before leaving, wondering what it was all about. He wandered down to the Admit desk.  
  
"Hey Jerry, do you have any clue why Romano would be asking about deportation laws?" Jerry fought for a minute to remember the reason why.  
  
"Oh yeah, Corday's being deported." Susan, who had had the misfortune of picking up a chart spewed the sip of coffee she had just taken back into her cup.  
  
"She's being deported?" She asked Jerry, shocked and amazed.  
  
"Well, some guy from the INS had me pull her out of a surgery claiming she was an illegal alien." Susan and Luka just stared at Jerry, who shrugged. "Hey, don't look at me, I didn't come up with the idea to deport her." Luka ran a hand through his hair and down over his tanned face, fresh out of the Congo.  
  
"The only thing I know of is that she has to marry someone here, and stay married to them for two years." Susan, Luka and Jerry looked around at all the busy doctors and nurses, before looking back at each other and laughing as they realized what they were all doing.  
  
"Let's see, who would be a good match for Corday." Susan said, looking around.  
  
"Coop?" Luka suggested as the man looked by. He looked up when he heard his name, but when the other doctors said nothing, he kept walking.  
  
"Naw, a guy with asthma and babies don't mix."  
  
"Yosh?" Jerry suggested. They looked at the nurse, but shook their head.  
  
"Morris?" All three of them dissolved into laughter as Abby walked by.  
  
"What's so funny?" she asked the gaggle of doctors.  
  
"We're trying to figure out who here would marry Corday." Jerry quipped, still looking at who was there.  
  
"I didn't realize she was that desperate." Abby replied, dropping a handful of charts down on the desk before grabbing another three.  
  
"She's getting deported." Abby nodded at them, slightly shocked at what Susan had just said.  
  
"Right." She nodded at them. "It's April Fool's day, isn't it?"  
  
"Would we dare to envision her with Morris if it was?" Susan replied, and Abby's face contorted from disgust to laughter as she pictured it as well.  
  
"I think you all might want to start moving, Bionic Man is on his way, and he doesn't look happy." The doctors looked up in time to see Romano heading towards them with just enough time to have them look busy.  
  
"Shouldn't you all be seeing patients?" Romano asked as he checked the board. The lack of Elizabeth's name on it reminded him of the fact that he was pressed for time for an idea to keep her in this country.  
  
"We were just about to." Luka said, heading off with the chart he had just grabbed. Susan followed suit, leaving Romano and Jerry alone. Romano looked at the fat desk clerk before grabbing a chart himself, knowing that the desk clerk had pretty much just told the entire hospital what had happened to the surgeon who was probably at home at that very moment packing for her return trip, for good. 


	5. 5

A/N To anyone who thought this was heading towards Cordano, I never said that did I? I'm rather partial to Morris myself (I think I'm the only person in the world who likes him, but I do).  
  
She awoke a while later with a sharp crick in her neck. She smiled when she realized that she had been sprawled out on the couch with the blanket draped over her. She vaguely remembered falling asleep watching Sleeping Beauty with Ella.and Robert. She found no sign of him left, and went upstairs to check on her daughter. There she found the toddler asleep on the bed with the blanket tucked perfectly around her. She couldn't help but smile at the small but touching gesture.  
  
She made her way downstairs fully intent on cooking something. She looked through the meager contents of her cabinets and fridge. At least there wouldn't be a lot to get rid of when she had to pack, which she figured she should get started on soon. She was just about to cook up a box of macaroni and cheese when she heard the phone rang. She reached for it and was surprised to hear the other voice. "Robert, did you forget something?" she asked, looking around the living room to make sure he had left no traces of him behind.  
  
"No, no, actually I pass your place on my way home, you want something, I could pick it up for you." she thought of what she wanted, before answering. She knew that it would take him out of his way to stop by her place, but she was too tired to bother to tell him otherwise. The news had hit her hard, and any help she could get, she would welcome.  
  
"Thank you, I'll settle for anything."  
  
"Anything it is. I'll be there soon." She heard the phone disconnect on the other end of the line, and she followed suit, before retreating back to the couch, a glass of wine in her hand. She flipped on the TV and searched for something to watch. She settled on that night's "Where Are They Now" on some band that she hadn't even heard of, but there was nothing better on, and her thoughts were elsewhere. All the show was was background noise, something to listen to while she drifted off into her own little world.  
  
She couldn't believe that everything had happened. Just when she started to feel at home, just when she finally thought she had adjusted to loosing mark, just when she finally got her life back together, her world came tumbling down around her. Now her only chance was submitting herself to a loveless marriage to somebody, anybody who would agree to marry her. She ran through her options, the ones that he had listed earlier that day, and the ones that she might not have minded so much.  
  
Carter was out in Africa; he couldn't come here to save her. Luka was barely even a full-fledged citizen; much less a natural born one, marrying him would do absolutely nothing for her cause. Robert had mentioned the med students; she was very nearly to the point of considering them. They were young, influenced by what she said. She told them to jump; their response should be to ask her how high. She could easily get away with one of them, and not all of them were that ugly either.  
  
She didn't know why Robert was doing this for her. He had proved that he had a heart before, but now he was really showing it. And she knew that he had feelings for her, she'd known it for the past six years, and she'd seen him act on them plenty of times, but always within the boundaries, always playing by her rules. He'd made plenty of lewd comments, and a few gestures that could have been questionable, but nothing along the lines of harassment.  
  
No, she couldn't call a hug here, a stroke on the cheek there harassment, they were friendly, loving gestures. Gestures anyone other than her would never see or feel, he loved her, and she knew it. she knew he'd be first in line if she asked, but she couldn't bring herself to think of him. As much as she wanted to, she still saw him as Rocket Romano, the evil scourge of the ER that had canceled her fellowship when he found out that she had lied to him.  
  
She knew that the fact that she lied to him hurt him more than the fact that she was seeing Peter. If she had been honest with him and told him she had been involved with someone already, he probably would have renewed her fellowship and saved her the hardship of starting over. But as much as she wanted to at times, she couldn't change the past, especially not now when it would have been most beneficial to her to have just kept things the way they had been.  
  
But she couldn't change the past, and she couldn't stop what was happening to her. There was no one in the ER that she could fathom spending the next two years of her life with. She thought that she finally found someone to really love with Mark when he got sick. He was always there for her, and he really loved her the same way that she had loved him. He had given her her daughter, their daughter, and his love.  
  
And now she had to find someplace to replace him, if not in her heart than in her life. There was no one she could put in his place though. Her life revolved around the ER, she barely saw anyone outside of it, much less dated anyone outside of Cook County General. The more she thought about it though, the more she started to warm up to the idea of having one of the men of the ER for a husband. The med students weren't bad looking and even Morris had a few redeeming qualities to him.  
  
And she could have the younger men eating out of the palm of her hand if she really wanted to. Especially Morris, he couldn't think for himself if he tried, and if he did try he'd probably hurt himself. She wouldn't mind just having him as a name, he could cater to her fancies if she wanted him to, but he wouldn't be much company. She didn't want someone to love, she had lost the one that she loved, she didn't want to marry anyone, but she wanted to stay in Chicago.  
  
Torn between whether to just give up and go back to England, go back to a job she knew she had waiting for her if she asked for it, or marrying someone she barely even liked. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, and she got up glad for the interruption that she knew that he'd bring with him. 


	6. 6

He was waiting outside, a large brown bag in his one good hand, the prosthetic stuck in his pants pocket. He still hadn't gained full control over the mechanical arm and tried to use it as little as possible. She opened the door to let him in and he smiled his grateful thanks. She took the bag from him, and stepped aside to let him walk by, and led the way into her kitchen. "Hope you like Chinese." He said, following her inside.  
  
"Love it, thank you." She said, smiling kindly at her, as she removed three plates from her cabinet. He didn't mean to stay, he was just going to drop off the food, but if she was setting a place for him, he wasn't going to object. She pulled out the needed silverware, and set it on the table. "Can you just set that up while I go get Ella?' she asked him, and he nodded his agreement. He arranged the forks along the side of each plate, and stuck a spoon in all of the containers before stepping back and making sure things looked all right.  
  
He found everything to be looking perfect, but double-checked things one last time, knowing that he wanted things to be perfect. He wanted to make sure that this was great, she needed the comfort, she needed someone to just pamper her, she needed someone to smooth things out while she was trying to cope with what was recently dumped upon her, she was trying to cope with the awful reality that she now had to face.  
  
He heard her coming back down the stairs, and put a smile on his face, ready to face her with a grin and a witty word. She needed humor, she needed something to keep her lighthearted about things, she needed to keep her spirits high while they pondered ways to keep her in the country. She came in with Ella bounding at her heels, and the four year old ran headlong at him her arms outstretched as she firmly attached himself to his leg. "Wobet!" the little girl exclaimed, and he just smiled and picked her up, setting her on the chair with the booster seat on it.  
  
Elizabeth smiled at him and sat down, and he took the chair directly opposite of her, as they began to eat. "You really didn't have to do this." She told him, helping herself to the food. He smiled at her from behind his fork as he lifted some food to his lips.  
  
"No, it's fine, it was on my way." It wasn't totally a lie. He could count stopping by her house as on the way home, just only if he went the long way, which wound up being the non-scenic route, going through the city rather than up by the lake. But it did take longer for him to stop by, and they both knew it. But she was touched by the gesture, and he had nothing else to do that night.  
  
"Thank you." She said, honestly with a smile. He smiled back, a rare true smile, one that only she could bring out in him. They found themselves eating in blissful, calm silence, just knowing that they were there for each other. They were both glad to be around each other, knowing that they were comforting each other, he was weak, and now so was she, they were sharing in saving each other. She had been the one to comfort him when he lost his arm, and now he was returning the favor.  
  
Their silence was broken by Ella who decided that she'd had enough to eat, and pushed her plate away a little too forcefully. Elizabeth barely stopped the skidding plate from falling off the table and Robert laughed at the amusingly chaotic scene. Elizabeth glared at him before she lightened up and laughed as well. She scooped up her daughter and got up from her chair. "I'll be right back, I'm just going to put the munchkin here to bed." He nodded as he watched her retreat up the stairs.  
  
She was so beautiful when she did that. He wanted to come right out and tell her how he felt, but he knew how to keep himself in check. She had enough to deal with now; she didn't need him expressing his feelings to her on top of it. She came back down the stairs to find him scraping off Ella's plate and his, and laying them in the sink. "I uh, didn't know if you were finished-," he sounded like a stupid schoolboy. Memories of bad dates in high school flooded back to him.  
  
"No, it's fine, I wasn't really hungry to begin with." He picked up her plate as well, saving her the trouble of cleaning up.  
  
"At least you ate something." He said, dumping her plate in the sink. She chuckled weakly.  
  
"The doctor in you showing through." He laughed with her and stopped only when the phone rang. She walked over and hit the speaker button out of convenience and a harsh voice filled the room.  
  
"Ah, Miss Corday, how nice to hear from you again. It's Norman Keyes." Elizabeth glared at the phone.  
  
"Mr. Keyes, I hope you have good news." She replied, and Romano could hear the evil tone in her voice.  
  
"Ah, I'm sorry to say that I don't. I was just making sure that you were still in the US. You're down to 94 hours Miss Corday, make the most of them." they both heard the phone disconnect. Elizabeth punched the button that hung the phone up on her end. She paled as she retreated back to the couch, and he followed, ready to comfort her if she needed it. 


	7. 7

A/N I know that standard INS laws give you a few weeks, but there'd be no drama in that, would there? ;)  
  
She collapsed onto the sofa and he sat down next to her, before gently resting one arm behind her, cautiously, nervously. She didn't seem to mind. She turned towards him though, and he could see the wetness glistening in her eyes. He wrapped his good arm more tightly around her, and the tears that were shining in her eyes spilled through, she curled up against him, her tears soaking through his shirt, and he just sat there, rubbing her back gently, holding her close.  
  
He felt the cold liquid of her tears as his shirt grew damp and the salty water hit his bare chest. "Shh, it's alright." He whispered to her. Like most men, he was never quite comfortable around crying women, but being a doctor, he'd seen more than his fair share of them. He knew how to comfort them; he knew what to do, what to say, and what not to do. He held her close, rubbing her back, calming her with his presence. "It's alright, we'll work through this. You can do it." he told her, and slowly the tears started to stop. He tucked her head underneath his chin, and just sat there, allowing her to cry things out.  
  
She pulled back after a short while and looked up at him again with red- rimmed eyes. "Thank you." she said, quietly, meekly. He just smiled softly at her.  
  
"Are you alright?" he asked, knowing the answer before he even said the words.  
  
"No, but that's besides the point." He smiled at her, never removing his arm from its place around her shoulders. She smiled back, trying to be strong, acting as if she could keep things up on her own, but they both knew she needed someone to anchor her.  
  
"Well then, glad to see you're holding up." She laughed, and relaxed. She knew that he was using his way of coping with things to help her deal. He was using his humor and sarcasm, not in a harsh way like he so often did at work, but in a light, almost cheerful way. She felt his hand lower, and with a tentative motion, he gently brushed a stray tear off of her cheek. The same motion that she had turned away from just months ago, she now allowed, enjoyed even.  
  
She saw the fear that he had in his eyes fade away, as she allowed him the gentle gesture. She knew that all she had to do was ask him and he would be the first to spring to her aid. But she couldn't see herself with him, not for two years. He was stubborn, he could be cold and callous at times, and there were times that she thought him a wholly despicable person. But then there were times like this, when she saw his soft side, the side of him that could be loving. The side of him that bragged about the wonderful day he had come up with for his mother for mother's day, the side of him that made sure no patient went without care for longer than they had too, and that each patient was comfortably settled with their choices and their treatment.  
  
She knew that he had a soul, he had a heart, that it was just hidden behind the shell he had built up around him. But that shell was too thick for her to think of him as someone to love. Mark had been so open about everything, he'd been so nice, so loving, so caring. She saw the same thing in Robert that she had in Peter, that cocky confidence, and she saw how his self- absorption had broken them apart. She didn't want to start anything with Robert for fear of it heading the same way as Peter, just to wind up with him for the next two years.  
  
He turned his thumb to her other cheek, and gently brushed the tears away from there as well. She smiled slightly at him, but leaned back. She saw the fear and pain that had once again reappeared in his eyes, but leaned back on the couch, still next to him, but slightly distanced. No, no matter how hard she tried; Robert just wasn't the type that she could see herself with, not now, and certainly not knowing that she would have to be with him for two years. He was just two volatile, he was too cold, his skin was too thick, he loved her, she knew it, but she just couldn't bring herself to love him back. 


	8. 8

They sat like that, next to each other for some time, he returned his arm to its place around her shoulder. There was a silence that hung thick in the air. He was becoming uncomfortable with it, but he was too afraid to break the silence. He shifted slightly in his seat and she looked at him. "Something wrong?" she questioned, looking softly at him.  
  
"No, nothing." He lied. It wasn't a big lie. It was something that he shouldn't care about.  
  
"What is it?" she could see right through him in times like these. She knew enough about the opposite sex to know when something was wrong, and she knew enough about Robert Romano to know how well he could hide things if he tried.  
  
"I'm fine." He said, now knowing it was true. She just glared at him. "I'm just not a big fan of silence." He finally admitted, somewhat sheepishly. She nodded, understanding how he didn't want to talk about it. It was something stupid for him to be scared of, and he knew it. To him, whenever something was silent it meant something was wrong. Especially with his job. He was used to people complaining, people screaming, people coughing, whenever they stopped that, he knew something was wrong.  
  
It had started a long time ago, his fear of silence, he couldn't even remember when. All he could remember was that white noise frightened him, and no matter how strong he tried to be, silence was the one thing that scared him most. She sensed his tenseness and got up slightly. "Do you want anything?" she asked, before stifling a yawn. He smiled at her and got up.  
  
"No, you're tired, I might as well leave." He told her, staring into her eyes. He could see the apprehension and the fatigue in them, she was tired, she needed her sleep, she needed to get a grip on herself. She could see the fear in his eyes as well, fear of both what was to come in just a few days time, and also what was transpiring between them at the moment. He never made much of a pretense of knowing much about what a woman was feeling, especially when things were so complicated.  
  
Rather, she helped him out. He was unsure of quite exactly what the night had been. He found his eyes on her lips, and he knew that she had noticed. He knew that she could tell what was running through his mind at the moment, the thought that he was trying so hard to erase. She helped him to the door, and paused right on the gateway between her house and the outside. "Thank you Robert, for everything." She said, before she leaned in and pecked his check. He returned it, and she smiled as they pulled back.  
  
"Are you coming in at all tomorrow?" he asked her.  
  
"I'm afraid that according to my new friend Mr. Keyes that you'll be fined if I do."  
  
"I though that was if you worked. You can be there without working." He pointed out to her. he wanted to see her again, seeing her would prove to him that she was alright. She smiled at his ability to find any loophole. She needed to find someone anyway; the clock was ticking, way too fast for her liking.  
  
"I'll try to come in. Goodnight." She said to him. he echoed her sentiment before turning and heading for his car. He got in and ran a hand down his cheek, the place where her lips had brushed against his skin. He felt like he was in high school again, awkward, tingly, and nervous, afraid of what to do or say. They'd never been so close before; she'd never let him. Now that she did, he didn't know how to react to it. he wanted to tell her how he felt, but he had a gut instinct that telling her would be more than she could handle.  
  
He ran his hand along his face one last time before turning on the car and driving off with one last glance at the house before he turned the corner and headed home himself, unsure of what had just passed between them, and whether it was a good thing or a bad one. 


	9. 9

The building that had once felt like home to her now felt cold, desolate and barren. She knew that it was the last time walking through the swinging double doors unless she resorted to some very depserate measures that she didn't want to think about resorting to now. She wanted to spend her last day here, even though she couldn't treat any patients, to the best of her abilities. she wanted to be able to feel like she was doing something useful, that she was doing something productive. No matter what it was that she was doing.   
  
Walking through the doors was something incredably painful for her. She now knew how Mark must have felt when he walked out of those doors that last night he was at County. The staff was crowded around the admit desk as they often had the habit of doing on a slow day, and they all looked up with an air of sadness around them, they all respected the surgeon, they all were saddened by the fact that she didn't even want to leave, that she was forced away.   
  
She scanned the crowd of faces for any sign of either man, either Romano or Morris. She knew that if she needed it, Robert would be there to comfort her, he had already shown it so much. But she couldn't ask him to do more than he already had. He had already done much more than she could have asked him to, ever. And Morris, he was just just her first choice, he was the best looking out of all the med students to her, and he was dumb enough to not know any better for things.   
  
She found neither, but was instead greeted by somber "hello"s from the staff, each one offering their sympathy for what had happened. It was then she noticed him walking by, a tall, lanky man with a head of red curls and a scraggly red goatee. She said hello to the crowd as she fought for something to say to the younger man. She finally decided to take the blunt, direct route. She didn't want him for anything more than a name anyway, she didn't need to toy with him.   
  
"Ah, Dr. Corday, I heard what happened." He said, as he glanced at the board, searching for an easy case that he knew he could handle.   
  
"Yes, that's exactly why I was looking for you." Her stomach dropped as she looked up at who was fast approaching. Robert was making a beeline for her, she either needed to make this coversation fast, or save it for a later time.   
  
"And you wanted to take legal action? Yeah, I'll see if my dad can represent you." Romano came up on the tale end of the conversation that they were having.  
  
"Your father, Mr. Morris?" Romano said, purposely neglecting the man's proper prefix. He didn't deserve it, and everyone there, including the hapless doctor knew it.   
  
"Yeah, y'know, the Morris in Stockwell, Morris, Rowe." A look of recognition and horror passed across Romano's face. This boy was the son of one of the founding partners of one of Chicago's biggest law firms.   
  
"Your father is Sean Morris?" Romano asked in disbelief.   
  
"Yeah, he is. I'll give him a call, see if he can help you out." Morris said before picking up a chart of what was a basic scrape that someone who didn't even have basic first aid training could handle. Corday and Romano shared a glance. She had never thought of taking legal action before now, but the more she thought of it, the better of an idea it seemed. Morris definitly had his uses, even if one of them wasn't being a doctor.   
  
A/N: I said I was partial to Morris, I never said I was setting her up with him, did I? 


	10. 10

He watched from the distance as she stood before the cold grey locker, mechanically moving things out of it and into the box that sat on the bench next to her. A box that once held some sort of surgical supplies, but that now held the last traces of Doctor Elizabeth Corday from Cook County. The last bits and pieces. He had to turn away, he couldn't stand to watch it anymore, the more he watched, the more it sank in that it was real, that she really was leaving, that she couldn't do anything about it.   
  
But as he retreated down the stairs he realized that she now could do something about it, that she now had another option, that she now had an alternative to marrying someone, that she had a very viable way out. She had an opportunity to save herself without having to resort to desperate measures, and that took a huge feeling of dread off of his chest. He had felt an almost panic when he had read the letter and she said that she had only two options.   
  
He had already seen her marry someone else before, he had let her without a word otherwise because she really and truly loved Mark. He couldn't let her marry someone else without telling her his feelings, not someone she didn't love. He knew that he had let it slip when he had been coming out of surgery, but he was still under the drugs, she probably wrote it off as that being the only reason why he said it. Even though it really was how he felt.   
  
He loved her, he had already conceded that to himself, he loved her with his whole heart, more than she could ever know. He had loved before, but this was something new and different, this was something that he just knew. And he was a closet romantic, he gave himself that much, he knew that true love was out there, and he knew that he had found someone to truly love, even if she didn't love him back. She had been his bright spot during his entire recovery.   
  
He collapsed on the couch in his makeshift office, his favourite place to think. He found his thoughts came so much easier to him when he was sprawled someplace. He stared at the wall, where a small dartboard lay for times like this, when he felt bored, when he needed something to to with his hands to stop him from fidgeting around too much. He reached next to him to grab the few darts that were on the small table that also served as a desk for him and he threw one at the wall, wishing that there was a picture of the INS agent who had come after his Lizzie on there.   
  
He finished off the set of darts before relaxing again. He needed to come up with some sort of an idea if worse came to worse and Morris' father didn't work out. He needed her there, she was his last tie to sanity. He needed to tell her how he felt, and he resolved to do it sometimein the next seventy two hours, the last little bit of time that she had left in America. She was going to know before she left, he knew he couldn't spend the rest of his life wondering what if and regretting his cowardice. The great Rocket Romano wasn't a coward, except when it came to affairs of the heart. 


	11. 11

A/N-so I got a few complaints about short chaps, here you go a long one, last one you get for a while, unless you want it to suck. I have the attention span of a....ooo, lookie! Fishy! Game! Fun!  
  
She put the last thing in the box, the soft white lab coat, the last thing that was a memory of her time sepnt at County. The white lab coat with "E. Corday, Surgery" on it, the last thing that she had. She went to fold it up, before she looked at it again. She wanted to wear it out, but she knew that she'd probably be stopped by someone wanting a consult. She halved it, and laid it on the top of the box, right over top of a photo of her Mark and Ella, all three of them looking so happy together.   
  
She heard the door to the locker room open and someone knock. She looked up to find Morris standing in the doorway. "My dad said he'd be glad to discuss your case over lunch. Can you meet him at Theresa's in half an hour?" He said, looking at her, waiting for her response. She nodded at him.   
  
"Sure." She replied.   
  
"Great, he'll see you there. Hope things work out for you Doctor Corday." He said, before turning and walking out, leaving her a private moment alone. She picked up the box and headed out to her car. She checked her appearence in the visor mirror, she wouldn't have the time to stop home and change if she had to make it across town in Chicago traffic to the quaint little Italian restaurant.  
  
She walked into the little place, and found a young man, he couldn't have been more than ten years older than herself sitting in one of the chairs for waiting customers, who stood up as she walked in. "Dr. Corday?" He questioned. He could see where his son had gotten his ravishing looks from, he had the same red hair, although slightly thinning and speckled with grey, and the same dark hazel eyes. She shook his hand and the maitre d' showed them to their table.   
  
"Thank you for all of this Mr. Morris." She said quietly as she settled into the seat. He smiled at her.   
  
"Anything for a mentor to my son. I've heard so much about you from him. So tell me, how's he doing?" She searched for a tactful way to put things.   
  
"Well, he's come very far in the few months he's been here." That wasn't a lie, he had improved drastically since he arrived. It didn't mean he was a fully compitent doctor, but he had improved a good way.   
  
"Don't kid me Dr. Corday, tell me honestly, should he give up?" He asked her as the waiter arrived with a bottle of wine and two glasses. They ordered quickly before resuming the conversation.   
  
"I don't think he should give up, he has potential." She said, the closest thing to a compliment she could give to the young doctor.   
  
"I told you not to kid me. I know he didn't want to go into emergency medicine."  
  
"What did he want to do?"  
  
"He wanted to be a doctor, but he wanted to be a pharmocologist. Wanted to turn his hobby into his job." He chuckled at his joke. "I pressured him into going into a 'real' field of medicine."  
  
"Well, he doesn't seem very happy in the ER." She admitted.   
  
"He was never much of a people person. Sure he's sociable, but he doesn't like having to deal with a lot of people on a daily basis. Tell me Doctor, is it possible that you can transfer his residency? I know you have a pharmacology residency, all you have to do is switch him, and I'll wave all charge." She nodded.   
  
"I can't make any guareentees-" she started, before he cut her off.   
  
"Neither can I. Do you have your letter from the INS with you?" She nodded and fished it out of her purse. He looked at it before he held it up to the light.   
  
"Well now, seems we've got a tampered letter here." He said after a minute. He held it up closer to her. "You see that? There was a different date up there, whoever changed it did a very good job of it." She could see where there was a difference on the back, undectable from the front, but noticeable on the back. "It might be enough to postpone it, but I'm not sure. What did you say the name of your INS agent was?" the food had arrived, a welcome distraction.   
  
"A Norman Keyes." She replied, taking a bite of her linguine and clam sauce. "Short little bald man, smokes horrible cheap cigars." She said, laughing at her unkind description of the man.   
  
"Do you think he has any reason to have a personal vendetta against you?" He replied. "Most INS agents don't tamper with the letter." He pointed out, squinting to see the original date. "Wow, he was supposed to give this to you three weeks ago." He pointed out. "Looks like you better get packing, don't know how much I can do in this time period. I'll try my hardest." He said, and she nodded.   
  
"And I'll see what I can do about switching your son's residency."  
  
"Thank you Doctor Corday. Ethan's a bright boy, he just doesn't always show it." It took her a minute to comprehend who the other man was talking about before she realized that Morris must have a first name, that he simply wasn't just plain Morris. She smiled and nodded. The waiter brought by the check, and she went to pay for her part at least before the man she was sitting across from reached for his wallet. "Please, it's on me, it's the least I can do. I do this thing for a living, I know how hard it must be to change a residency." He said, and placed the cash for the meal in the check holder.   
  
"Thank you very much Mr. Morris." She said getting up, and following him to the door.   
  
"Thank you Doctor Corday. I'll do my best."  
  
"As will I." She said, before getting into her car, heading back to the hospital to see what she could work out. 


	12. 12

He found himself in the middle of the ER, doing something, anything, to take his mind off how the meeting between her and Morris' father must be going. Even if it meant being down in the ER seeing all the patients that came in through the doors, before he saw something else walk through those same doors, the familiar red curly hair slightly tinged with the snow that had just picked up again. How it could snow straight through March was something that he still marveled at, despite having been in Chicago for almost twenty years.  
  
He followed her with his eyes, searching for some hint of her mood as she approached the admit desk. "Ah, Lizzie, forget something?" He questioned, setting the chart he was holding down in the rack for some other doctor to pick up. He leaned against the desk with his good hand and watched her, looking for a clue of how her meeting went. She seemed happier than she had been going to the meeting, which was always a good sign, but he didn't know exactly what had transpired between her and the elder Morris.  
  
"No actually. I was looking for Kerry, have you seen her?" She asked, looking for the chief of staff since he had been removed from the position. He shook his head with glee at the fact that he didn't have to face the othr doctor.  
  
"Nope, don't think she's on today." He said almost joyfully. "What do you need?" He questioned, hoping to be of some help. He followed her through the halls, as she waited for an elevator.  
  
"I needed to talk to her about something." She said, purposely avoiding the subject. He nodded, knowing exactly what she was doing. He stood with her at the elevator as she punched the button for the fourth floor, the surgical floor.  
  
"Have you cleaned out your office yet?" He questioned, knowing that she had no other reason to be going up to the surgical floor. She shook her head. "Do you need a hand?" He questioned, inwardly bashing himself for the bad pun that he left hanging. He saw her realization of it with the small smirk on her face.  
  
"No, it's fine, I'm sure you have other things to do." She pointed out to him, but now it was his turn to shake his head.  
  
"Actually I don't, but I understand if you want to do this alone." He said, letting her decide. He didn't want to impose on her, he knew he'd already done a lot for her. She was thankful for everything he'd done, both of them knew that, but he could see why she'd want to clear out her office herself.  
  
"No, no, it's fine." She could use the helping hand, there wasn't anything really personal in there, but there was a lot of things, CD's, files, a lot of things that didn't really matter much to her, but that needed to be packed. They reached her office, and she found that someone had already placed a few boxes in it, ready for her to wipe the very last traces that the surgeon existed from anywhere in the hospital. She looked at the bookcase, filled with an eclectic mix of both medical journals and a few books that she read on her own free time, when it wasn't filled with the incessant amounts of paperwork that she had gotten, first as associate chief of surgery, and now as cheif of surgery. "You want to start on that?" She asked him, and he picked up a box with a faint smile.  
  
He packed the box almost wordless, occasionally commenting on the books he was packing away while she checked the filing cabinet for any files that wouldn't just get passed on to whoever else they chose for Chief of Surgery. She found none, the cabinet full of old records, nothing that lent anything personal to the cabinet except for a few drawings from Ella that she had stuck to the metal cabinet magnets. She turned her attention instead to the desk.  
  
He folded the box shut, and picked up a fresh one to work on the next bookcase, leaving most of the boring medical journals that he knew were just there to make the office look more official. He reached her CD collection and he couldn't resist a few jabs here. "The Sex Pistols? Really Lizzie, if you're going to listen to British punk rock, at least pick a halfway decent band." She gave him an odd look as she looked at him placing the CD in the box.  
  
He could see her fighting the bemused grin that spread across her face when he mentioned it. Sure, he was never exactly the biggest supporter of punk rock when he was younger, but he could remember a few concerts that he had gone to. He knew that while he was in here, he had the biggest chance to tell her how he really felt. He knew that he told her already when sedated, but he knew that she had just written it off as the drugs.  
  
He finished off the bookcases, and went to help her with her desk. She had started on one set of drawers, he started on the other, laughing at the various personal items she had tucked away, everything from a spare set of stockings to an extra pager and a backup watch. "Always prepared?" he said chuckling at his own little joke as he placed everything neatly in the box. She glared but smiled at the same time, just thankful that he was there to help her. She didn't know if she could do it alone.  
  
He wanted to tell her, but he found the words to catch in his throat. He couldn't tell her, not now, not in here, the room was uncomfortably small. He finished off the drawer before moving to the one above, too conscious of the small gap between them, the gap that could be broached by one arm, all he'd have to do is wrap his one good arm around her and pull her close and tell her how he felt, but he couldn't, he panicked. Even more so when the first thing that he pulled out of the drawer was a picture of her and Mark, looking happy as could be together. 


	13. 13

She looked over to see how he was doing and saw him pull out the picture. Both of them stopped breathing for an instant. She couldn't remember when the picture was taken, but all she knew is that they looked so happy together, arms around each others shoulders. She knew she had a similar one of her and Robert, only in that one, her smile was more forced. Here she looked really and truly happy, the way she had been when she had first started seeing Mark.  
  
He hastily set it down on the desk and moved on to the next item. It had been over a year, a year and a half, it didn't seem that long. She had tried to move on, but she had trouble. She didn't want a lasting relationship, even though now she was being forced into one with someone, anyone, a person that she didn't care about. She couldn't care about anyone, she couldn't feel anything. Especially not now, right now, ever since Norman Keyes and walked in the day before, exactly one day before, she felt totally numb.  
  
She was down to 72 hours. Three days to find a man and to marry him. She watched him for a minute as he packed the box in almost silence, he was humming something that she couldn't tell, just a little melody to break the silence. It took her a long time to realize that he was unconsciously humming a Sex Pistols tune. Her lips curled into a grin, but she didn't say anything, and instead watched him as he packed, oblivious to the fact that he even was humming anything.  
  
It wasn't until he heard her start to chuckle that he became aware of what he was doing, and a faint shade of red crossed his cheeks and the top of his head. She smiled at him, and vaguely remembered his mention that he hated silence. She looked at the photo for a moment before she set it on the top of the box that she was packing. "Do you miss him?" he asked her, breaking the silence. She nodded as she tried to come up with a way to explain her feelings.  
  
"I didn't really miss him for the past few months, but now, with all of this, I don't know..." She said, somewhat meekly. She found understanding in his soft brown eyes, eyes that seemed to be calm, not cold and harsh like they usually were.  
  
"Now that you're forced to make a decision, it's hard?" He asked, and she nodded, amazed that he could show such emotion to her when he appeared so cold and callous to the other members of the staff.  
  
"There's just no one that I can picture myself with for the next two years." She instantly wanted to retract the words as soon as she uttered them. She saw his hand tremble slightly. She knew that he had been trying to edge his way in to her heart, she knew how he felt for her, but no matter how hard she tried, he was still the arrogant proud surgeon, even now that she had seen the softer side of him, the side of him that had feelings, that knew what it was like to be scared, that knew what it was like to feel pain.  
  
He nodded his response, and turned his full attention to the box he was packing. She knew that he had been fighting with his feelings. But she didn't know how he really felt for her...if it was something that had come out because of the anesthetic, or if it was something that he really truly felt. She wanted to know, but at the same time, she was afraid to find out if he really felt like he said...something inside of her wanted him to, but at the same time, another part of her was screaming at her that this was the same man that had cancelled her fellowship, that had put her through so much torment.  
  
But she had turned out for the better because of all of it, hadn't she? Even still, even though there was that one part of her that wanted him to tell her that what he had said on the table as she finished up on him was true, she still couldn't picture herself with him. He had a heart, he had a soul, but he was still, and she had a feeling always would be the overly arrogant, overly assuming doctor he had been when she had first met him.  
  
"There's not much left, you should do the rest on your own." He said, a cool tone invading his voice. She knew that she had hurt him, and that it was deeper wound than he would like to admit.  
  
"Robert-"She started, unsure of how to continue.  
  
"I'll leave you to your considerations and your pictures." He said before heading towards the door.  
  
"Robert, wait-"  
  
"Shame Dorsett's married, you two would have made a good couple You both can be incredibly slimy." Her emotions got the best of her as she strode over to where he was angrily.  
  
"Robert Romano, you are the most insufferable, arrogant, egotistical, jealous, evil, manipulative, malicious, loathsome little prick of a man I have ever met." She said, not caring about her reaction. She had truly tried to be nice to him, she considered him one of her closest friends if nothing else. But it was times like these when she all but hated him.  
  
"And you are the most assuming, self-righteous, haughty vivacious, stubborn monster of a woman. But that doesn't mean that I don't love you." He said as he turned and walked out of the door, almost slamming it behind him, leaving her to stand shocked in her office, as she realized what he had said.  
  
A/N-I'm evil I know...;) 


	14. 14

She stood there, floored and shocked at what she heard. She didn't want to believe it, but yet she did. She knew it, but now he said it, to her face, he told her exactly how he felt, even if it was something said in pain and anger, it was something that he felt. She regained control of her body and let out the breath she'd been holding since he stormed out of her office. She knew that what she had said had hurt him. She knew that he was inching his way closer to her.  
  
And she knew that she had led him on, that she had let him believe that he had a chance, that she had finally warmed to him. She considered him one of her best friends, but she couldn't picture herself with him. She knew that he had truly thought that he had a chance, if nothing else to open himself up to her, give them a chance to really get to know each other. They both knew that she didn't want to go back to England, not after all she went through to come back.  
  
She opened the door that he had so violently closed after him and walked out into the hall looking for where the short surgeon could have escaped to. She wanted to talk to him, to apologize to him, but she quickly turned back around and sat down in her office, looking at the half packed room, the three boxes already packed, the last one still sitting open, the one he had been working on. What he had just told her had been a shock to her. She had almost expected it, but at the same time, she couldn't have thought of it in her wildest dreams.  
  
And she had flat out told him he had no chance with her. She had told him that she didn't want him, or anyone else for that matter. She knew he had overreacted, but at the same time, he had a reason to be angry at her. She had led him on, she had allowed him to do all those things that she had retreated from just months before. She had let him touch her, she had let him see her cry, she had sobbed openly to him, she had led him to believe that he actually had something going for him.  
  
She was torn between going to look for him, knowing full well that he wouldn't want to see her now, and staying put, waiting for him to come to her. She chose the latter option only so long as it took her to finish packing up the desk. She moved the box over to where the other three stood near the door. She could get maintenance, or if all else failed, Luka and some of his pals to help her carry them down later. She looked back at the desk, devoid of all of her presence, it was just another empty office, ready for the next chief of surgery to move into it.  
  
She slipped out of the door and into the hallway, her eyes scanning for the familiar glint off of his pale bald head that would give him away. Not finding it, she checked the ER, before resorting to the last place she thought she could find him, up on the roof, looking out to the city below. "Go away." He said, not even turning around. She knew he wanted to be alone, but she wanted to talk to him. She had hurt him, and she didn't want to leave with her and the man she considered one of her closest friends on bad terms. 


	15. 15

He didn't want to face her, not now. He knew that she was the one behind him, no one else would come looking for him. He stared out into the city below him, watching the passers by go on with their lives, the dull grey and black of city streets, the drab colours, and the grey sky above him echoed his mood. He was feeling stormy, and hurt, and alone. He didn't want to be alone, but he didn't want her company either, he didn't want to see her, not now.  
  
She had hurt him, deeper than he thought it would hurt. He knew better than to expect her to open up to him, but he had expected a tad bit more from her, not outright saying that she didn't think anybody in the hospital up to par, including him. And then he had flat out told her how he felt. He had been angry, but he knew what he said, even if it came out in a rush. He knew what he said more this time than he had the last time he said it to her.  
  
He felt the snow starting to fall, but he didn't mind, even though he wasn't wearing a coat. He always thought the varying Chicago weather to be great, it kept him on his toes, but now he was starting to hate it, the little bit that was left of his arm hurt whenever the weather was bad, and the cold didn't help things. He just kept staring out over the roof at the city skyline. He could just barely see the lake, or the shore of it at least.  
  
"Robert-"He ignored the voice. He knew he was overreacting, but he didn't care. He had done so much for her, he had asked for nothing in return, but yet he still felt so hurt. The last thing that he had left was leaving, and he lost one of his last hopes to keep her near him. She was the last thing that he had to hold on to, she was the last stable thing in his life. His career, the only other thing he had, the thing that he had poured his life into had wasted away along with his arm. He had no hope of going back to surgery, he had no hope of being a halfway decent doctor ever again.  
  
"Go away." He said again. He felt her come closer to him, she was standing behind him, and he was all too aware of their proximity. He had come so close to telling her back in her office, telling her gently, calmly, hoping things would work out better. Instead he had said them at the end of an angry stream of a tirade, a response to the one that she had just spat at him. He knew now that she didn't want him, he didn't care what she thought of him anymore.  
  
"Robert, listen to me." She told him, but still, his back was turned, he kept staring out into the city. He was purposely being cold to her, he wanted her to know that he was hurting. He knew that he shouldn't be giving her the silent treatment, that it was childish and silly, but he didn't care. "Fine, stay up here for as long as you want, I don't care. I'm not going to spend my last three days in Chicago trying to argue with someone who's acting like a two year old."  
  
He heard her retreat, but he didn't hear the ding of the elevator opening, or the sound of the door to the stairs being opened. He knew that she was still there, just not right behind him anymore. He knew that he had hurt her as well, that the comment about Dorsett had been underhanded and mean, but she had been just as wrong to say that, knowing that he had been trying to side with her, help her, get her to notice him as a person, a real human, not just the evil boss, the scourge of the ER.  
  
He finally turned around, and looked at her. She had taken up the same pose he had just been in, on the other side of the roof. He walked over to the elevator and made sure that the elevator gave it's telltale ding, announcing it's arrival. If she wanted to talk, he'd listen, but she'd have to come to him, she'd have to make the effort. He watched her for a long minute, holding the door open button as he waited to see what she would do. She turned and looked at him, met his gaze before she walked over to the elevator with him. 


End file.
